


Planes Are Overrated (But Trains Still Work)

by KuriKuri



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:04:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2409416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuriKuri/pseuds/KuriKuri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s romantic,” Jemma protests, sounding a little indignant. “Can’t you imagine traveling the world with that perfect person someday?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Planes Are Overrated (But Trains Still Work)

“Another postcard?” Skye’s roommate, Jemma, asks, startling her.

“Yeah,” Skye replies, rolling her eyes and flopping down on her bed to read it. There’s an obnoxiously perfect palm tree on the front and the water looks so crystal clear it’s almost invisible.

“So, where are they now?” Jemma inquires, shifting around in her desk chair in order to pin Skye with a curious look.

“Seychelles,” Skye grumbles, eyes scanning her dad’s cramped, but neat, scrawl.

“I thought you said they were going directly from Tanzania to India,” Jemma says, frowning, tapping the point of her pencil against her lips.

“Apparently they decided to take a last minute detour,” Skye replies, scowling before hauling herself up off her bed again in order to pin the latest postcard up next to the other ten already occupying the wall.

“I like this one,” Jemma announces, a small smile on her face as she gazes at the image, pencil still tapping against her lips. “The beach looks gorgeous.”

“Yeah,” Skye says, her tone a little sour as she glares at the postcards. “Seriously, though, as soon as I leave the house they decide it’s time to travel the world? I mean, come _on_ , why couldn’t they have done it when Darcy left the house and took me along with them?”

“Oh, come now, don’t you think it’s at least a little cute?” Jemma asks, looking a little put out. “It’s like what would have happened in _Up_ if they’d decided to adopt and Ellie didn’t die.”

“I guess,” Skye sighs, moving to flop back down on her small dorm bed again. “Seriously, though – it’s been less than three months and they’ve already been to ten different countries.”

“It’s romantic,” Jemma protests, sounding a little indignant. “Can’t you imagine traveling the world with that perfect person someday?”

Skye’s reply gets stuck in her throat as she looks over at Jemma, hair done up in a messy ponytail and a soft looking t-shirt practically drowning her small form. She’s still tapping her pencil distractingly against her lips, and Skye’s mind is suddenly flooded with images of walking along that postcard perfect beach with her, hands clasped together. She abruptly cuts off that line of thought as it strays to beach-sex, though.

“Maybe,” Skye finally answers, looking away from Jemma and reaching for her laptop, needing to occupy herself with something other than inappropriate thoughts of her roommate. “Can you?”

“Oh, w-well,” Jemma stutters, biting her lower lip, her cheeks turning just a little pink. “Yes. I mean, I know it’s cliché, but I’ve always thought that Italy sounds romantic.”

“Huh. I thought you’d be more of a Paris sort of girl,” Skye replies, trying not to think about walking through the streets of Rome with Jemma next to her.

“I’ve been a couple of times,” Jemma says, scrunching up her nose adorably. “France really isn’t that great.”

“Oh, British, got’cha,” Skye teases, giving Jemma a lopsided smile. “Don’t want to associate with the ‘frogs’ or whatever you call them.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Jemma protests, indignant.

“Sure,” Skye replies, nodding mock seriously and trying to keep the grin off her face.

“You’re insufferable,” Jemma huffs, turning back to her work and away from Skye.

“Love you too, dear,” Skye snorts, and she’s pretty sure it’s her imagination that makes the tips of Jemma’s ears look just a little pinker than they did a moment earlier.

\---

_Dad (7:33 pm)  
We’re home again. Your Pop keeps forgetting to only set out two plates instead of three._

Skye smiles at bit at the text, a warm fuzzy feeling enveloping her. It’s not that she really thought that her dad and pop didn’t miss her, but it’s nice to get a little confirmation every once in a while. Back before she left for college, she was typically the one tasked with setting the table for dinner, and once Darcy left for Carver University it had taken her weeks to remember to set one less place at the table.

 _Dad (7:36 pm)  
How’d your chem exam go?_

_Skye (7:36 pm)  
I got a B+. Jemma helped me study_

_Dad (7:37 pm)  
That’s nice of her. I hope you remembered to thank her properly_

Skye blushes a little at that, because she had _plenty_ of ideas for how she could thank Jemma, and none of them were the type of thing that she wanted to be thinking about while texting her dad.

_Skye (7:38 pm)  
I know Dad. I offered to help her study for her comp sci test next week_

_Dad (7:38 pm)  
Your pop thinks that you should use that restaurant gift card we gave you and take her out somewhere nice_

She blushes brightly at that, embarrassed that her parents can so easily see through her. She’s really regretting the fact that she’d spent the entire first three days of school gushing to them about how amazing of a roommate Jemma is.

_Skye (7:39 pm)  
I think she has a crush on her lab partner_

Sighing, Skye tries not to focus too much on the truth of the text she just sent. It’s true, after all. Jemma and Leo have been practically fused at the hip since they met in their organic chemistry lab. They bicker like an old married couple about complex scientific topics that Skye can only begin to comprehend. If they were talking about computers, she’d certainly be able to contribute, but chemistry really isn’t her strong suit, as demonstrated by all of the study help Jemma’s been giving her.

_Dad (7:40 pm)  
I thought your pop had a crush on Aunt Natasha for years and look how that turned out_

_Skye (7:40 pm)  
Yeah, but you and Pop are like some sort of sickeningly sweet fairytale romance_

_Dad (7:42 pm)  
I just read your pop that text and I’m afraid I might have to take him to the ER so that he doesn’t die of laughter_

_Dad (7:42 pm)  
Just give it a try, okay? I promise you it won’t be as bad as you think_

Skye doesn’t dignify that last text with a reply and tries not to think too hard about how cute Jemma looks when she comes back form lab, her hair a little tousled and goggle imprints around her eyes.

\---

“You haven’t gotten a new postcard for a while,” Jemma says, trailing her fingers lightly over the ones already arranged in a colorful mosaic on one wall of their room.

“Yeah. I think my parents are chilling at home for a while,” Skye replies from where she’s lying across her bed, flipping through her gen chem textbook with a pencil clenched between her teeth.

“Are they both retired?” Jemma asks, brow furrowing slightly as she looks over at Skye.

“Kind of?” Skye answers, shrugging, tearing her attention away from her less than interesting reading. “I mean, they used to work for this weird division of the CIA and they still do some consulting. Pop’s a volunteer firefighter and Dad helps run the local food shelf, too.”

“They sound nice,” Jemma says, smiling softly.

“What about your folks?” Skye asks, regretting her question as Jemma’s smile weakens a little.

“I never really knew my father, but my mum’s an Anthropology professor at Cambridge,” Jemma replies nonchalantly, turning back to the postcards, looking at them a little sadly now. “We aren’t very close. She did too much traveling.”

“Wait, so why did you say that my parents traveling all over was romantic if – ” Skye cuts herself off, cheeks flushing as she realizes how rude her question is. Shit, she hopes that Jemma doesn’t get too offended. She should know how sticky a subject parents can be, considering he occasional internal conflict over being adopted.

“Traveling by yourself is lonely,” Jemma says, shrugging. “Traveling with someone else is romantic.”

“I guess,” Skye says, trying not to think too hard about how romantic it would be to travel through Italy with Jemma, just the two of them.

Huh. Maybe she can understand why her parents did all their travelling as soon as she left the house.

“If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Jemma asks, Skye moving over a little so that she can sit down on her bed.

“I don’t know,” Skye replies, taking a moment to consider the question. “Italy sounds cool. So does China. What about you?”

“I guess I already said Italy, but I’d like to visit New York someday, too,” Jemma says, smiling slightly, and the sight makes Skye’s heart skip a few beats. 

“Wait, really? You’ve never been?” Skye asks, surprised, blinking over at Jemma.

“Never,” Jemma replies, shaking her head. “You live there, though, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Skye answers, thinking about how amazing it would be to bring Jemma along with her, show her the touristy sights along with all the hidden gems that only native New Yorkers actually know about. “You should visit sometime.”

“I should,” Jemma says, giving Skye a look that she can’t quite interpret.

\---

When Skye comes back to her dorm room, she certainly isn’t expecting to find Jemma trying to furiously scrub away tears from her eyes. That’s what she finds, though.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Skye asks gently, walking over to where Jemma’s sitting at her desk, tissues scattered across it and her phone clutched tightly in her hand.

“Sorry, just – it’s nothing,” Jemma replies, her voice a little wobbly as she tries to wave off Skye’s concerns very unconvincingly. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Skye snorts, resting a hand between Jemma’s shoulder blades and rubbing her back soothingly. “Seriously, you can tell me anything.”

“It’s stupid,” Jemma protests, although the puffy redness of her eyes seem to negate that.

“I doesn’t seem like it’s stupid if you’re crying about it,” Skye replies, pulling up her own chair and sitting down, wondering if she should reach for another tissue and dry the remaining trail of wetness still shining on Jemma’s cheek.

“I – ” Jemma starts, pausing for a moment to study Skye’s expression carefully. Skye maintains steady eye contact all the while. “I was going to surprise my mother by coming home for winter break, but I just heard that she’s going to be off doing god knows what in Turkey.”

“Oh,” Skye replies, unsure what else she can say to that. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Jemma says, rubbing her eyes again, clearly trying to downplay the situation. “It’s not your fault.”

Skye feels awkward now, at a loss for what else to do. She continues to rub soothing circles over Jemma’s back, and that seems to help somewhat, because the tension in Jemma’s shoulders begins to steadily bleed out of her small form.

“You wanted to visit New York someday, right?” Skye blurts out suddenly before she can think things through properly. She doesn’t take her words back, though.

“Skye, I couldn’t possibly impose – ” Jemma starts, biting her lower lip.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll call my parents, but I’m sure they’ll be okay with it,” Skye says, waving off her concerns. “You’ll probably have to sleep on the couch, though.”

“That’s – I mean – ” Jemma stutters, giving Skye an unsure look.

“Seriously, it’s okay,” Skye interrupts, reaching forward and placing her hand over Jemma’s, squeezing it reassuringly. “Plus, this way I’ll be able to convince them that I’ve actually made friends at college.”

“If you’re sure,” Jemma says tentatively, but she doesn’t try to remove Skye’s hand.

“Yeah. It’ll be fun,” Skye replies, smiling slightly. “Two friends hanging out over winter break.”

“Yeah. Friends,” Jemma murmurs, and there’s something odd about her tone, but Skye can’t for the life of her figure out what it is.

\---

They take the train down to NYC from Boston. Truthfully, Skye’s never taken the train before, but it seemed simple enough. Dad had driven her up to Boston to help her move into the dorm, but she figured that this time it would be better to save the gas. Plus, it meant that she got some more time alone with Jemma.

“I thought trains were supposed to have compartments,” Skye says, shifting in her seat to stick her head out into the aisle and look around.

“Some trains do,” Jemma replies, smiling a little at Skye’s antics. “Then again, I’ve only ridden on European trains before, so I’m not sure about American ones.”

“Well, I’ve never ridden a train before at all,” Skye answers, sitting up straight again and rooting around for her laptop. “I kind of thought it would be more exciting. You know, like how it is the _Harry Potter_ movies.”

“Sorry to disappoint, then,” Jemma laughs, smiling at Skye warmly and making her heart skip a beat.

“I mean, it’s not completely disappointing,” Skye says, backtracking. “I’ve got you with me.”

“Yeah,” Jemma murmurs, and Skye can’t tell if her cheeks are actually turning a little pink or if it’s just the lighting. “Yeah, you’ve got me.”

They lapse into silence for a moment, Skye booting up her laptop and Jemma pulling out what looks like some sort of murder mystery novel.

“I just – I want to thank you again for letting me come home with you,” Jemma says, breaking the silence, eyes focused down on her book. “It means a lot to me.”

“Yeah, well,” Skye starts, her throat feeling suddenly dry and her heart pounding in her chest. “I don’t travel with just anyone.”

Jemma looks up at that, so many different emotions warring on her face that Skye can’t even begin to determine what she’s thinking right now. Shit, hopefully she’s not freaking out right now. Skye’s told her about her sexuality and she’d seemed fine with it, but what if –

“There’s no one else I’d rather travel with,” Jemma says softly, eyes momentarily darting down to look at Skye’s lips.

They stay like that for a moment, both looking at each other, laptop and murder mystery forgotten. Then, Jemma leans forward slightly.

“I’m not misreading this, am I?” Jemma asks tentatively, shifting her hand to settle it against Skye’s arm.

Skye just leans forward and kisses her.

\---

Four years later, they honeymoon in Italy. Skye decides that New York City is more romantic and Jemma just rolls her eyes fondly.

**Author's Note:**

> _I do not give permission to have any of my works put up on goodreads or any other such site._


End file.
